Italian School Andrea Solario, 18th Century, “christ With The Reed”

Italian School Andrea Solario, 18th century, “Christ with a Reed”Restored canvas62 x 45.5 cmVery good conditionAndrea SolarioMilan, circa 1465-1524Coming from a family of artists, Andrea Solario was the first to devote himself to painting. Although mentioned by Vasari in his Lives and by Lomazzo in his Treatise on the Art of Painting, he remained unknown for a long time and his work was frequently attributed to better-known artists such as Bernardino Luini. Solario's oeuvre, consisting of around fifty paintings and twenty drawings, was not reconstructed until the 19th century by Mündler. Little is known of the artist's life, but it is assumed that he initially trained with his older brother, the sculptor Cristoforo Solario. It is believed that in the early 1490s, Solario accompanied his brother on a trip to Venice, where he discovered the work of Antonello da Messina, who profoundly influenced his own style. The fact that his first signed and dated work, a Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Simeon (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan) from 1495, was originally located in Murano supports this hypothesis. In early 1507, Solario was invited to France by Cardinal George I d'Amboise, who commissioned him to decorate the chapel of the Châteaux de Gaillon, residence of the archbishops of Rouen. Solario remained there at least until September 1509. Much of the rare documentation relating to the artist relates to payments he received in France from the d'Amboise family. Back in Milan, he worked for the cardinal's nephew and heir, Charles II of Amboise, governor of Milan, and for other members of the city's political and ecclesiastical elite. Andrea Solario devoted himself primarily to religious painting, but he was also a great portraitist. His style was inspired by the models and solutions of Leonardo da Vinci, while also reflecting the work of Antonello da Messina. Solario's painting demonstrates a profound knowledge of Flemish art, as evidenced, for example, by The Lamentation (Louvre Museum, Paris), which combines oil and tempera. Solario died in Milan before August 8, 1524.